The Professional
Currently, Employers, Professional Associations and Regulatory Boards dictate continuing education requirements of the professional. Generally, requirements of these entities' vary and the professional cannot use the continuing education credits granted by one group to fulfill the requirements of another. In addition, keeping track of changing requirements, the certificates for the acquired continuing education and reporting the continuing education credits to the various groups becomes a maze for the individual. Professionals also lack access to the appropriate number of continuing education credits and appropriate topics to really meet all the requirements placed on them by the groups that dictate the continuing education requirements. The trends indicate a pattern of increasing continuing education and professional portfolio requirements. As a result, individuals are not meeting compliance requirements due to the complexity and diversity of current systems.
Employers
Most employers lack a comprehensive centralized system incorporating content, tracking, and reporting of continued education requirements for the purpose of maintaining accreditation standards. These tasks are typically performed in an atmosphere of crisis as an attempt to stave off sanctions from the respective accrediting agency. FIG. 1A illustrates the complexities and inefficiencies of contemporary decentralized models.
Regulatory Boards
Regulatory Boards license and regulate an individual professional and are responsible for assurance to the public that a professional is competent in their field of licensure. Three standard ways of doing this is through continuing education, the professional portfolio, and competency measurement. Regulatory Boards, burdened with an immense number to regulate, currently must settle for random, shallow, competency audits on a small percentage of their licences to demonstrate compliance to the public. Because of the high cost of the current evaluation systems and the lack of reporting system options, the Boards must settle for honor system as a reporting mechanism of the professional.
Content Providers
Content providers are pressured by new regulations requiring in-depth reporting on usage of their product, with records to be maintained for a period of 5 years—a substantial increase in workload. The cost of developing a product, getting it accredited, creating a system to provide the relevant usage information and marketing it is too costly for content providers to stay in the content provider market. Currently, there is no real way to enforce the requirements that create an issue of non-compliance. Further, providers with experience and knowledge in specific areas are leaving the provider market and the professional is losing this vital knowledge base.
Accrediting Agencies
There are various types of accrediting agencies. Accrediting agencies certify healthcare facilities and they accredit continuing education materials, seminars, conferences and educational institutions. These accrediting agencies regulate the above mentioned sources of products or services for the purpose of ensuring to their customer that they are getting a quality product or service. Standards required for initial or continued accreditation are difficult to enforce because there is no real mechanism for that enforcement. The requirements become an issue of non-compliance. Trends lend to increasing requirements to make professional practice more competent. Currently, these agencies are looking for a robust system to aide them in enforcing these requirements.
The functionality and benefits of the instant invention can be best be contemplated and appreciated as a means by which computer-based system and business method of the instant invention facilitates the resolution of long standing inefficiencies long endured by diverse user communities. Such communities would typically include but not be limited to, the professional, employers, professional associations, regulatory boards, content providers, and accrediting agencies. From the proceeding summary of contemporary user group problems, it is clear the present art is woefully absent a comprehensive system, process and article of manufacture whereby a plurality of continuing education requirements can be addressed. Such requirements including, but not limited to, report processing, auditing, accreditation, licensure, course verification and on-demand report processing. Needs and services addressed by, and offered to, the above-noted communities via practice of the instant invention.